CG16 C is for Chinese Puzzle
by Miz Em
Summary: Summer 2007 Alphabet challenge at the Numb3rs Forum. Sequel to D is for Dum Spiro Spero. AU, after Janus List.  This is the 16th in what will be a series of 26. Q is for Quagmire is the 1st. There will be no further updates to this piece.


Summer 2007 Alphabet challenge at the Numb3rs Forum. Sequel to D is for Dum Spiro Spero. AU, after Janus List. This is the 16th in what will be a series of 26. Q is for Quagmire is the 1st. There will be no further updates to this piece.

--

"I'm sorry, Dan," Luke murmured from the doorway to Steele's office.

"For what? You're both safe, that's all that matters," Steele replied just as quietly. But he looked curious, "Did you accomplish what you hoped to?"

Luke shrugged, "The most important thing was to ensure no one came after us while I was hurt. Then it made sense to try getting as much information as we could."

Steele looked up sharply, "You were hurt?"

"Gunshot wound," Luke said gently. "It was taken care of."

"It must be okay, since you and Fiona both have such satisfied looks," Steele tried to say it lightly, but didn't quite manage it. He sighed, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

Luke looked surprised, "Its part of the job, Dan."

"What did you do?"

"We lucked out, actually," Luke said slowly. "Che Lobo helped us out. Shot those two guys and tossed them in the building. Then took us in, got me medical care."

"Che Lobo, that's Paul Escalante's brother," Steele said thoughtfully. "Returning the favor?"

"Yes, and yes, but also returning the favor to Colby." Luke told Steele about Colby saving Che Lobo's son's life.

"Think he'll be willing to help us figure out what caused the gangs to figure out who were undercover agents?"

"You'll have to ask Paul. I think Che Lobo thinks the slate is clean as far as Colby and I are concerned."

Steele nodded, "We'll talk to Paul later and see what he thinks."

"Is Sean alright?" Luke asked.

"In what sense?" Steele eyed Luke warily. Very little escaped Luke's observation.

"Well, he's walking just fine, so I assume the gunshot wounds have healed well," Luke met Steele's eyes. "There was just something in his eyes before we left last night."

"It's not job related," Steele said slowly, "So I'm not planning on interfering, but I'd like you to keep an eye on it even if it's just to tell me what you think."

Luke looked curious, but said nothing. He would make his own observations and make up his own mind about it. He turned his mind to something else, "I thought I would order dinner in tonight and get the group together like we did on Hannah's birthday."

Steele grinned, "Feeling sociable?"

Luke smiled wryly, "I missed everyone."

"I'm sure we'd all love to, Luke," Steele replied warmly. He looked up when Sherrod appeared at his doorway.

"The others are waiting in the conference room," Sherrod told them.

"Thank you, Conrad. We'll be right there."

--

The others were ragging Colby when Steele and Luke got to the conference room. Even Steele chuckled at the more graphic jokes, while Sean laughed uproariously at the disapproving glances from the women.

"He's a healthy young man," Sean protested when those disapproving glances turned his way. "What did you think they would be doing when he got back?" Aware of the interested looks he was getting from Steele and even from Luke, he changed the subject. "Now that we're all here, what did you guys find out while you were 'dead'?"

"That Colby can't cook," Luke said with a sigh.

Another burst of laughter met this announcement, with further ragging on a now long-suffering Colby.

"You guys do the cereal and milk every meal thing?" David cracked. "He used to do that all the time, before he met Hannah."

Colby groaned, "Don't you start."

"He tried, but I wouldn't let him. I found an alternative," Luke saw Colby about to start on him about the restaurant and cut him off with a grin. "Why don't you tell everyone about the Chinese meet on Thursday night, Colby?"

Colby shot him a look that said he wouldn't forget what Luke did, and continued, "The meet is scheduled for Thursday night at the Lakers game from what I remember of the codes. She got the tickets in the mail and read out the seat numbers to verify them, so we know where she'll be. Luke got us tickets in the same general vicinity, but it'll be great if we can get closer. I can't sit close by, she saw me in the jewelry store when we had that hostage situation, but Sean or Luke could. The rest of us could just be in the arena."

"What made you decide it was the Chinese?" Megan asked curiously.

"We have the wallets that belong to the two guys who shot at us. Luke discovered they were low level Chinese muscle in one of his forays into the computer systems," explained Colby. "Luke also connected them to Senator Barclay."

"Senator Barclay of the Intelligence Reform committee?" Steele pursed his lips at that information. That would be a very interesting piece of information for the President and the White House Chief of Staff.

Luke nodded, "Someone needs to dig into that and get as much information as possible." He grinned, "Someone with more skills than I do on the computer."

"I can get Charlie and Amita on that," Don said as he made a note.

"See if they can tie Barclay to Spencer in some way," Steele told him. "We'll catch up on some other things after Colby and Luke are done debriefing, but our main focus needs to be on connecting what we discover to Leo Spencer."

"Leo Spencer, as in White House Chief of Staff?" Luke murmured in surprise.

"Leo Spencer as in former White House Chief of Staff," Steele corrected. "Sean found a connection to him from Corker, and the President ousted him from the position. Bryan Kaplan is now White House Chief of Staff."

He gave them a few minutes to absorb that information then he continued, "What precious little information we've managed to gather from our investigations indicate that Spencer has managed to instigate the attacks from a number of different arenas. The Chinese angle is just one of them. We know of Kannin and the Russians, and Paul Escalante's investigations into the gangs indicate deep seated rumblings there too. And we don't yet know how Corker ties into Spencer. Nothing our investigations turn up will help unless we're able to tie the attacks to Spencer."

With a gentle smile in Fiona's direction, Steele continued, "I know Fiona and Sean have been sifting new intel on the Russian angle. Hopefully, we'll be able to pinpoint what Spencer's connection is, and what he had to do in order to get their cooperation."

Fiona and Sean exchanged glances. Sean laughed when Fiona rolled her eyes.

"Not much gets past me," Steele said mildly. "Especially when you're trying to spare my feelings," he said gently. "Don't spare my feelings. Just stick to the facts; we'll manage better that way." Then he said briskly, "But back to the matter at hand. I'll make some calls, get the Lakers tickets. Don, will you run this?"

Don looked at him in surprise, "If you'd like me to." At Steele's nod, Don began to make plans for the meet.

--

After a day of planning for listening in on Wendy and her contact, then helping Sean and Fiona sift through the Russian intel, Colby was glad to get away. He sighed with pleasure when he saw Hannah locking up the jewelry store as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Going my way?" he called out to her, grinning when she turned and laughed at him.

She slid into the passenger seat and kissed him.

Dissatisfied with the light kiss she bestowed on his lips, he wrapped a hand around the back of her head and gave her a proper kiss.

"Mmmm, that's better," he told her when he was done, satisfied with the shining happiness in her eyes, and the flush in her cheeks. "We're headed to Luke's. He asked everyone over because he's missed everyone."

"Fiona called to tell me," Hannah said with a happy sigh. "I hope he gets dinner from that gourmet restaurant."

"I'm quite sure he will," Colby said dryly. "I don't think the man eats anywhere else."

She laughed softly, "Don't tell me he ordered from there while you were supposed to be in hiding."

Colby grinned, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to punish you."

"Oooh, promises, promises!" Hannah slanted him a sultry look through lowered lids that made him think twice about going to Luke's for dinner. "Don't you dare!" she told him, reading the expression on his face correctly. 

"Alright, alright," Colby laughed as he drove off.

Fiona was helping Luke put the food out on the table when they got there. Sean and Steele were lounging around, each clutching a beer.

Hannah giggled and slapped at the cold hand that Sean tried put on the back of her neck. "Stop that."

He grinned and smacked a loud kiss on her cheek.

Steele rolled his eyes and gave her a sedate hug. "How are you, Hannah?" he asked gently, smiling at her obvious happiness.

"I'm sure she's ecstatic now that he's brought his sorry ass home," Sean drawled lazily from where he had sprawled after greeting Hannah. But the light note he was striving for apparently went awry, although he didn't notice the sharp look Luke directed at him.

"Yes, I'm happy he dragged his ass home. I have a particular fondness for that ass," Hannah pinched Colby's ass when he walked by. She giggled when he yelped at her pinch. She wandered into the dining room. "Oh, that smells wonderful, Luke!"

"You say that like he had something to do with it," Steele said dryly. "All he did was to pick up the phone."

Luke only chuckled, and came forward to hug Hannah in greeting. "Thank you for being strong. Fiona told me how much she depended on you for strength."

"I'm glad you're alright, Luke," she hugged him tightly. "Is that bullet wound completely healed?"

"Yes," he told her, smiling indulgently.

"Liar," Colby said amiably, swiping a hors d'oeuvre as he walked by the dining table.

"It's healed well enough if I do all the work," Fiona burst into a peal of laughter at the disconcerted look on Luke's face.

He tried to recover from the ragging, "Well, it's certainly good to be home."

"Even though he also owns the place they were in," Steele shook his head at his friend.

"You know what I mean. That's a hideout, this is home."

"Especially now that you're in it," Fiona said softly as she slid her arms around him. He smiled tenderly at her, then laughed when Sean groaned.

"So is it time for dinner yet?" Sean asked plaintively. "A man could starve in this love fest."

"Come on and eat," Luke said wryly, slapping an affectionate hand on Sean's back when he passed by on his way to the dining table. But the friendly banter warmed his heart and he thought, with a deep seated happiness, that it was this group that made this home for him.

--

"Has anyone seen her yet?" Don asked. He was sitting in the van with Colby, monitoring the communications from the agents scattered in the general vicinity of Wendy's seat.

"I got it," David said into his open cell phone from his place in the food line.

"Is everyone in place?" Don said sharply. "Look sharp!"

"Sean and I are in our seats," Luke told him. Steele had got them seats on either side.

"She's not alone anymore," Megan said as she walked casually towards them from some distance away. "Have you got the visual?" She had a tiny video camera built into the glasses she was wearing.

"Ten four, Megan. Alright, break off! I don't want them to notice you."

"I'm out of here," Megan swerved to one side and passed them with a throng of people between her and the pair they were tracking.

Finally, Wendy and her companion settled into their seats, sandwiched between Luke and Sean.

Luke noted with amusement that Sean had thrown himself wholeheartedly into the role of beer guzzling fan. Luke had helped him with a disguise that included the addition of a full beard, and a beer belly. Over the course of the first quarter, Sean had gotten up to purchase beer numerous times. Luke was clutching a beer himself, though he despised the stuff. He intended to make that single bottle last the entire game. Sean had also been disgusting to watch, spilling food and drink on himself, and belching loudly and often.

The pair they were watching talked and laughed naturally, like any other couple watching a basketball game, jumping up and cheering when the Lakers did something good. They also carried on a conversation that ranged from how good the players were, to the current gossip about them. Then eventually, the conversation turned to investments.

"Heads up," Luke heard Colby say sharply to them. "This is it." _They must use investment jargon as their code,_ Luke thought.

"Chinese stocks are hot right now, Ben," Wendy was saying. "There's a lot of interest for foreign stocks, but none are more sought after than Chinese stocks. There's been particular interest in corporations based in Shanghai and Beijing in particular. Tianjin, Wuhan, Shenyang, and Guangzhou aren't far behind either. It's a good time to buy, because prices will go up soon."

"It's all speculation now right?" Ben asked. "No one really knows how these things will go."

Wendy shrugged, "True enough, I suppose, but the buzz is coming from different quarters. I think it's as safe a bet as anything. I wouldn't wait too much longer. The prices will start going up in the next month or so."

Just then the Lakers made a fabulous play and the place erupted with cheers. Luke chuckled to himself when Sean "accidentally" splashed beer all over Ben. "Aww! I'm sorry, man! I really am!" He tried, ineffectually to help Ben dry off by sweeping his hands all over the jacket. Unnoticed by the disgusted man, Sean planted a tiny collar bug under the collar of Ben's jacket. Angrily, he shook Sean off, cursing in what Sean could only assume was Chinese, and dragged Wendy away.

"Well done," Luke said in amusement when the two were finally out of sight.

Sean grinned at him and gave him the thumbs up. 

"They're headed out; do we have a good signal on them?" Luke asked.

"Loud and clear," Colby told them, "But Wendy's already told him what he wanted to know. Come on back and I'll explain."

"Are you sure that's all she wanted to say to him?" Don asked Colby when they all gathered at the office later. They would continue to monitor Wendy's contact, Ben, via the bug Sean had planted on him, but for now, they were interested in what Colby thought Wendy had to say.

"I'm as sure as I can be," Colby replied. "She seems to believe that someone in the US government has targeted the Chinese. And I mean, literally. Stocks mean nuclear missiles. So she was telling him that there were missiles aimed at Shanghai and Beijing in particular. Those are the top two cities in China, population wise, and the other cities she mentioned, Tianjin, Wuhan, Shenyang, and Guangzhou, are right on up there in terms of population. That's a target of 37 million people in those six cities alone."

"So Ben found it difficult to believe," Megan said slowly, "But Wendy had heard it from a number of different places and believes it to be true."

"Not only does she believe it to be true, she believes that there's a possibility of an actual attack in the next month or so."

"I need more than that," Steele said quietly. "All of this is based on conjecture. I understand you're decoding this based on your knowledge of the Chinese, but I can't use this in a court of law. We'll have to find a way to get hard evidence."

"Still, it's good to have an idea of what might be going down," Luke murmured.

"But we don't have much time if the time frame she mentioned is real," Don paced restlessly. "What's the next step?"

"We'll have to get our hands on whatever Wendy saw to make her think this was true," Steele said quietly. He narrowed his eyes at Sean, who was surprisingly still sober. "Do you think you can get close enough to her to find out more? Sweet talk it out of her?"

Sean grinned enthusiastically, "I've always wanted to be a honey trap."

Luke burst into laughter, he couldn't help it. Sean always seemed to have a good time, regardless of the situation. He had his suspicions of what Steele had been worried about, but Sean certainly had Luke's admiration for how he was dealing with it all.

Colby grinned, "Well, if you want to know about honey traps, you can always ask Luke." Both he and Sean laughed uproariously when Luke tried, and failed, to maintain his impassive facade.

The looks of amusement spread to everyone's faces. Well, almost everyone. Steele sighed and shook his head at them.

"They're just a laugh a minute, aren't they?" Megan said, laughing as she got up to leave. "If we're done for the night, I have plans I'd like to salvage." She waved her hand at the hoots and catcalls as she sashayed out of the conference room.

"Well, I think she's got the right idea," David told them, grinning. "I'm going to see if I can dig myself out of the doghouse." He clapped Sean on the shoulder, "If you need any pointers from a cool cat, just let me know." That brought more laughter to the conference room.

Don was smiling too by the time David left.

"Tell your dad I said hi," Sean told him softly when Don got ready to leave as well.

He smiled at Sean, "I will. I know he'll appreciate it. He keeps wanting to know when you're stopping by to play poker with him."

Sean laughed, "Soon. I promise. I might even let him win a few hands."

"Yeah, right. He says you concentrate too hard on the pictures on the cards," Don told him, laughing when Sean cracked up in agreement. "Later, everyone."

"Do you miss keeping FBI hours?" Sean asked Colby in amusement, when they were the only ones left in the conference room.

"I wouldn't know; I was working two jobs then, remember?" Colby replied wryly.

"What's the plan?" Steele asked, bringing them back to the case.

"Wendy works out at a gym around the corner from where she lives. Sean could go work out there, and strike up a conversation with her, keep her out of the apartment while Luke and I search her place. If we find anything, we'll photograph it. It won't be admissible evidence, but it might point us in a direction where we can get more concrete evidence. Or get a search warrant." Colby suggested.

"Sean could then get himself invited over, and somehow put the papers out in plain sight. We could send the FBI in to question her about something. That way, if they seize the papers, it would be admissible," Luke said thoughtfully.

Steele gave Sean the once-over, "Can you manage that? Perhaps pretend that you're new in town or something?"

"Aye, the lass won't know what hit her," Sean said in a light Irish brogue."

Luke smiled, "That'll work."

"As long as he doesn't forget to maintain the brogue," Colby said dryly.

"I won't forget," Sean said easily. "I'll have her wrapped around my little finger in no time." He grinned good-naturedly at the groans of disbelief from the other three men. "Alright, I'll see you when I check in tomorrow."

--

"Forgive me for staring, miss, but you have the loveliest complexion," Sean flashed a brilliant smile at Wendy when she was done with the machine. He laughed when she looked suspiciously at him, "Ah, ignore me, lass. I'm just a country bumpkin come to America. 'Tis all new to me." With an apologetic shrug, he sauntered away and began working on another machine.

After they both did reps at several different machines, she moved to one next to the machine he was on. "Where are you from?"

Sean stopped his reps and flashed her a smile, "Ireland. Can ye not tell?"

She smiled a little shyly, "I've never been there."

"Surely you've watched movies," Sean protested.

Wendy laughed, "Like which ones?"

"'Michael Collins'," he said wickedly, "With Liam Neeson. Surely ye've heard of him? Liam's as Irish as the four leaf clover."

"I haven't seen it," she told him, smiling when he clutched his heart.

"Well, we'll have to remedy that, m'lady. 'Tis a great movie!" he decided. "Can ye rent it from somewhere close by? I've a DVD player in me pack. We could watch it in the park. Ye'll be safe from me in the park, won't ye?"

"Safe from you, perhaps, but what about the bums in the park?" Wendy said dryly. Then shyly, "We could watch it at my apartment. I live close by."

Sean wondered at her willingness to bring a stranger to her apartment, but jumped at it with both feet, "Aye, that would be better than the park, yes? But ye'll have to let me buy you dinner. For I will surely be starving after all this huffing and puffing about, and I won't be imposing on ye more than I am." He wondered again when she nodded eagerly. "Another hour here, yes? I need a swim."

"Yes, I'll meet you at the front desk in an hour," she told him, glowing with excitement.

Sean headed to the locker room to strip into his swim shorts, taking the opportunity to call Colby and Luke about the plan. "Do you have an idea of where the papers might be yet? I'm supposed to take her to dinner in an hour. I can drag dinner out a couple of hours, but we're supposed to watch a movie at her place and I don't want to stay there too late."

Colby chuckled, "Well, you're in luck, we found it fairly quickly. She actually shoved it all at the bottom of a magazine rack in the bathroom. You just need an excuse to go to the bathroom. I guess she believes in hiding things in plain sight."

"Alright, so you'll send the FBI in when I signal?"

"Of course, have we ever let you down?"

"Not yet, but never is an awful long time," Sean told him. He hung up on Colby's laughter. He strode out to the pool, and slid in with a happy sigh, enjoying the feel of the water against his skin. Oblivious to the admiring glances of the women in the Jacuzzi next to the pool, he began to swim his laps. About forty five minutes later, he pulled himself out of the pool, waving to Wendy when he saw her watching.

He kept her entertained when they picked up the DVD, and all through dinner. Throughout dinner, he did his best to find out about her, trying to figure out why she would turn traitor and sell secrets to the Chinese. By the time they got to her tiny apartment, the only thing he could figure out was that someone must have had something on her to coerce her into it. If she was getting paid for selling secrets, she wasn't spending any of it on herself.

Because he had begun to feel sorry for her, he decided to hold off as long as he could. Though he moved the papers fairly early in the evening, he stayed to watched the entire movie with her.

"Would you die for Ireland, Sean?" Wendy asked softly at the end of the movie.

Equally quietly, Sean replied, "I would sacrifice my all for my country."

"Everything?" Wendy looked at him in wonder.

"Everything." He paused uncertainly, trying to decide if he should try to discover more. "Is something the matter, lass? 'Tis just a movie."

She shook her head and smiled at him, "No. It's nothing."

Her answer saddened him, and he pressed a button on his cell phone to give Colby the signal. "I should be going, lass." He smiled, a little ironically, "Ye don't know me well enough for me to stay with ye much longer than this." He gave her a hug as he stepped out the door. "Take care, lass."

Sean sauntered over to where Colby and Luke were waiting and watched in silence as Don and his team knocked on Wendy's door. Fifteen minutes later, she was led out in cuffs.

"I can't figure out why she's doing this," Sean murmured. "Do you see any evidence that she's living the high life?"

"We'll get to the bottom of this, Sean," Colby told him. "We just needed to get evidence that won't be thrown out in a court of law."

"Will you be alright, Sean?" Luke asked, a little concerned at Sean's uncharacteristic moodiness.

He looked up and smiled at both of them. "Yeah, I guess I'm a softer touch than I realized. I'll see you both tomorrow." He watched pensively as Colby left. _Give Hannah my love. I could use the light of her smile tonight._

--

"The papers we got from Wendy's apartment started a chain of connections that eventually got us to Senator Barclay. It gave us enough to get a search warrant on Senator Barclay," Steele rubbed his forehead wearily as they talked the next evening. "One each for his home in Lexington, Kentucky, his apartment and his offices in Washington, DC." It hadn't taken them very long to decipher what they needed from the papers, although they were encrypted. But it had taken Steele all day to get the warrants issued, despite the President and the White House Chief of Staff breathing heavily down each judge's neck, until they found one with enough backbone to issue them on a United States Senator.

"Are you planning on doing the search in Washington?" Luke asked him.

"Yes. The Senator's in Lexington right now. I thought Fiona could distract him while you did the search."

Luke nodded.

"Colby, you and Sean take the Senator's home and offices in Washington, DC. Split up if you have to, but I'd prefer if you stay together. It'll take longer but it'll give me some peace of mind."

"And where will you be?" Luke asked him.

Steele looked up wearily, "I'll be talking to the President and the White House Chief of Staff."

"And our friends at the FBI?" Colby asked.

"They'll be looking into the gang situation with Paul Escalante. I don't like how that's going," Steele sighed. "Go home, gentlemen. Make the most of what's left of this evening."

--

Colby slipped quietly into Hannah's apartment with the key she'd given him when he got back this time around. She'd left the light on in the living room for him. He made his way towards the darkened bedroom, hoping that she hadn't yet gone to sleep.

"Hey," she murmured sleepily when he got in the bed with her. She snuggled happily into his arms. "Is everything alright?"

"Mmmm, yeah, mostly," he said quietly into her hair. "I have to head to Washington with Sean tomorrow morning. I think we'll be back late tomorrow but we might have to stay the night." He slid his hands in a gentle caress down her back and cupped the generous curve of her bottom.

She laughed softly, a low sultry sound that made his toes curl.

He rolled her over with a growl deep in his throat. His mouth captured hers, and she whimpered with the pleasure when his tongue slid in and teased hers. His knee parted her willing legs, and he pressed against her. Her soft gasp of pleasure made him wild, and they moved together, beginning with a slow, gentle rhythm, a rhythm that became wilder and more urgent, until they both cried out with their release.

Colby savored the moments they spent entwined in each other's arms. He pressed a gentle kiss on her temple when he felt her breathing even as she fell asleep. Drowsily, he gave thanks that he had Hannah, and spared a moment to hope that Sean would eventually find someone like he had.

--  
A/N: Stay tuned as the plot thickens!


End file.
